Dispatching the white ball seven times over the boundary ropes, Dhoni ensured Chennai Super Kings' scintillating victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore in what turned out to be a record-shattering game put forth by the two. A total of 33 sixes were launched into the crowd and it stood out to be the most ever witnessed in a single IPL match.

New Delhi: With two balls to spare, Mahendra Singh Dhoni slogged the penultimate delivery for a maximum over deep mid-wicket and finished off an unbelievable heist at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday night. Dispatching the white ball seven times over the boundary ropes, Dhoni ensured Chennai Super Kings' scintillating victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore in what turned out to be a record-shattering game put forth by the two. A total of 33 sixes were launched into the crowd and it stood out to be the most ever witnessed in a single IPL match.

Dhoni's seven sixes en route to an unbeaten score of 70 runs was ably supported by Ambati Rayadu's 82, which included eight sixes. Chennai, in total, smacked 17 sixes, with one apiece from Shane Watson and Dwyane Bravo as they breached the colossal target of 206 runs. Earlier in the evening, respective fifties from the South African pair of AB de Villiers and Quinton de Kock accounted for 12 sixes. RCB notched up a total of 16 sixes, with three from Manandeep Singh and a solitary from Washington Sundar.

In all, the number of sixes in the match between RCB and CSK tallied to 33 sixes, surpassing the previous best of 31 sixes which was achieved in this very season in the game between Chennai and Kolkata Knight Riders. The mark was also attained by Delhi Daredevils and Gujarat Lions in 2017 edition of IPL. However, the total is just one short of the highest number of sixes struck in a T20 Game - 34 sixes - smashed by New Zealand teams Central Districts and Otago back in 2016.

Dhoni's seven sixes on Wednesday night was also his personal best ever struck in a single IPL innings, while his unbeaten 70 was his second IPL fifty in this season, an instance that last happened back in 2013. "What's important in a chase is to know which bowler has how many [overs] left and who the captain will bowl when," Dhoni said in the post-match presentation.